Short Films

In 2003, a failing small town horse track in Japan made a desperate gamble: hype up Haru Urara, a horse with a record of 0-88. The country rallied around her story, “a message about the value of trying hard even when no one’s looking.” Ganbatte kudasai!

Artist Karim Rejeb loves to make stop-motion animation using Playmobil figures, such as this crazy highlight reel of tiny mountain bikers and BMX riders doing tricks both indoors and outdoors captured from a variety of angles.

In 2008, stop-motion master PES scored one of his biggest YouTube hits with Game Over, which recreated the death scenes of five video games: Centipede, Frogger, Asteroid, Space Invaders and Pac-Man. This 1080p version makes it easier to marvel at PES’ genius.

Visual Suspect took real world images of Hong Kong’s dramatic skyline, and transformed them into surreal, otherworldly locales by mirroring them, in this short film inspired by Plato’s eponymous story about how the real world is much more than what our senses tell us it is.

Alex Sherwood, Ben Harper and Sean Mullen of Giant Animation Studios amazing short film proves that animation is definitely not just kid stuff, with their tragic tale of a shipwrecked and injured fisherman as he searches for signs of life on the island where he was stranded.

Dario Imbrogno’s fantastic animated short film embraces, rather than hides the mechanisms that underlie the creation of stop-motion films, exposing the armatures and skeletal joints of its protagonist – and even the almighty puppetmaster behind the scenes.

The Butler Brothers’ animated science fiction short is as enigmatic as it is haunting, as two children explore and learn about the strange and lonely world they face – a place which seems oddly devoid of human life.

(PG-13) Alice Lawson is such a devoted wife that she is horrified at the thought of coming home without an important ingredient. But the hotel she runs to offers more than just shelter. Rose Glass reminds us to love ourselves in her sultry short film set in 1950s England.

Directors Matt and Oz’s hilariously warped SNL digital short from a couple of years back starts out as an uplifting rendition The Five Stairsteps’ 1970 classic, but quickly turns into an episode of The Sopranos.

The universe is under attack by The Red Empire, a race of robots intent on wiping out all organic life. It’s up to the crew of the NX-01 Enterprise to stop them. Jürgen Kaiser’s stop-motion fan film is an incredible achievement and a true labor of love. (In German w/subtitles)

Here’s a short film that’s meant to be viewed online. YouTuber Arthur Meyer dressed up the romantic cycle in the guise of a viral video, complete with a perfectly imperfect view, a mundane setting and an abrupt ending.

The black and white style of artist Mattis Dovier’s animated short film reminds us of the primitive 1-bit shading style of the original Apple Macintosh, but it’s the haunting science fiction story about a man’s disturbing transformation that truly lured us in.

(Gore) “Freddie the Firefly, fried by a fart.” A pair of young possums listen to their dad read their favorite bedtime story: the alphabet of death by humans. Media Design School’s fantastic and morbid short was inspired by Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies.

(PG-13: Language) A Craigslist transaction becomes awkward when the seller reveals that the instrument belonged to his son, who passed away just a year before. Henry Wolf reminds us of the world’s indifference to what we hold dear in this heartbreaking short.

A boy is kicked out of a train, leaving him defenseless against an all-consuming tide. CalArts animation student Ning Cheng explores the idea of being left behind in this surreal and dramatic short film.

CalArts animation student Linnea Sterte’s minimal, yet totally engaging short film looks at what appears to be a post-apocalyptic world in which cats are the only survivors. Fellow student Eddie Wright’s prequel sheds some light on what happened before.

A chameleon wants to ask a fellow loner to dance. But he gets so nervous that he keeps on involuntarily blending into the environment whenever he gets near her. A cute and creative animated short by Michael Trikosko and Andrew Wilson.

(PG-13 Language)Exurb1a’s darkly comedic clip envisions a War of the Worlds / Independence Day type scenario in which 15 flying saucers hover over Earth’s capital cities, as global superpowers debate how to handle what may or may not be a hostile invasion.

Given the similar subject matter to Voltige, we’re guessing the 3rd year graduation class at MOPA all needed to direct an animation about a duo of bumbling car mechanics. Jalabert Camille’s amusing short film is definitely firing on all cylinders.

Filmmaker Philip Bloom used a modded Sony RX 100 Mk. IV and some post-production tweaking to depict Las Vegas in infrared. The resulting parched look is perfect for the city. It’s like catching an old impersonator without his makeup and costume on. Making-of here.

Ingrid and Benjamin Hjertefølger (“heart follower”) are advocates of sustainable living. They live in a greenhouse that they built partly out of cob, clean all of their waste water and are encouraging their children to also form a deep bond with nature.

Bouncing between surreal and genuine, Daniel Jewel’s wordless short film is about a Foley crew recreating the sounds of an entire film, from waves breaking on the beach to a freshly caught fish twitching on a fisherman’s hand.

(PG-13) A neurotic attending primal therapy literally coughs up every emotion he’s repressed. Simon Cartwright’s amazing and intense stop-motion short film is like Fight Club if Tyler Durden was a real being. Aaaahhhhh!!!

Forester’s animated music video for City, a song by Taiwanese band Sodagreen. A group of children are abducted and turned into infectious spies, turning their targets into accomplices. It’s like The Matrix if Neo was nature itself.

Katie admits to her therapist that she fantasizes about being rescued by and living happily ever after with him. Which can’t happen of course, not unless there’s a complete breakdown of societal norms. Heather Jack’s short film has the right mix of cheese and humor.